Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East (Ala Notable Books for Adults) (Kindle Edition)

"Lawrence in Arabia" is an important work that delves into the history of how World War I was fought in the Middle East. Though it was listed as optional reading in the 'Demystifying The Modern Middle East' course that I'm taking at Stanford University, I felt that a more thorough understanding of T.E. Lawrence's role in the struggle for Arab independence is important to understanding how the Middle East was shaped.The book is painstakingly researched and filled with places and names that soon become rather overwhelming. I felt like I need to take notes as I went along, and I did indeed highlight many sections in my Kindle. I'm sort of wishing for a "Cliff's Notes" type of summary now that I've finished the book. A few maps, charts and graphs would have been very welcome. Perhaps the author or publisher could consider hyperlinks to a companion website with maps and illustrations to make the subject more approachable and memorable (particularly since such...Read more

   They tell us to never judge a book by its cover, but surely with some books it is the title or cover art that draws us in and gives us an inkling of what to expect. Now and again there are books that somehow were mistitled, or at the very least the author could have done better. Scott Anderson’s “Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East” (Doubleday) falls into this latter bin. The main title is a clever twist on the usual reference to T.E. Lawrence, the very famous Lawrence of Arabia. And truly, the book does center primarily on Lawrence and his exploits in and for Arabia, but it is also so much more given the long list of characters in this very well crafted, written and researched book. First of all the book should have been titled “With Lawrence in Arabia” but the famous Lowell Thomas had already claimed that title in the first biography of Lawrence (actually it all began as “With the Turks in Palestine by Alex Aaronsohn in...Read more